Payton v. Ayers, No. 07-99020 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of first degree murder and rape and the attempted murder of two individuals. Defendant was sentenced to death. On appeal, defendant appealed two procedural issues: whether counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the penalty phase for failure to investigate and present evidence of social history and whether the prosecution's failure to disclose a confidential informant's status as a government agent was a Brady violation. Defendant also appealed two uncertified issues: whether defendant was deprived of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to investigate or present evidence of PTSD at the penalty phase and whether his sentence must be overturned because of cumulative errors. The court dismissed the challenge to California's lethal injection protocol as premature, and otherwise affirmed the judgment.
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